Never Too Late
by River Eagle
Summary: The Doctor and Rose have mended bridges, and are looking forward to their promise of "forever". Yet, they find themselves getting separated again and trying to get back to one another will prove just as difficult as the last time. Especially with Gallifrey still out there and Missy on the loose. AU: sequel to "How Did She Get Here?" DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue

**Never Too Late**

Characters: 12th Doctor, Rose Tyler (Melody Pond IV), Jenny (Doctor's daughter), Clara Oswald, Susan Forman

The Doctor and Rose have mended bridges, and are looking forward to their promise of "forever". Yet, they find themselves getting separated again and trying to get back to one another will prove just as difficult as the last time. Especially with Gallifrey still out there and Missy on the loose. AU: sequel to "How Did She Get Here?"

 **Prologue**

Rose ran her hand over the console. Looking up, she smiled as the TARDIS lit up and pulsed about her. It wasn't long before she felt someone staring and she looked up toward the balcony running around the edge of the main console room to where she knew her husband would be. She caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow at him. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for either of them to catch the other one staring. It was their way of just checking that they hadn't been left alone. Again. The Doctor smiled at her before he moved to join her on the main level.

"Where are we going, love?" he asked her softly.

"I'm not sure. I wish I still had access to the Lunar University and some of my old professors. There may have been some information there about how we could find Gallifrey. But I had to go and regenerate... They wouldn't let me through looking like this." Rose swept her hand up and down her figure, just to make a point. She smirked when she saw the Doctor run his eyes over her current regeneration. "It wouldn't help though because someone had to go and delete records of himself from all of time and space."

"That wasn't my doing, and you know it," the Doctor laughed. "And I wasn't the only one to do that in this relationship!"

Rose laughed along with the Doctor. "Oh, I know. The Bad Wolf virus wiped out any mention of me. Including my origins. That really stumped Missy."

He stopped in his mirth and leaned against the console. Missy, his childhood friend and now ancient enemy, had given him hope but had cruelly lied to him about finding Gallifrey. "Do you think we'll ever find it?"

Rose stopped and looked over her husband's downcast appearance. "Gallifrey? One day we will."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I have faith that we will. That should be enough."

The Doctor looked up and caught Rose's gaze, if only briefly. She looked away from him after a few seconds. "Are you still mad at me?"

"What gave you that impression?"

"Because you're not saying a lot. And I can barely feel you, Arkytior." He moved to her side really looked her over. "Please, talk to me."

Rose couldn't help but smile at hearing the Doctor call her by her Gallifreyan name. "It's been a while since you've called me that." Then, she sighed. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but whenever someone leaves, it's always hard."

"It never gets any easier. No matter how many times I've had to say goodbye to people I care about."

Rose reached out and took the Doctor's hand in hers. "I'm not mad. Not at you, anyway." She gave him a half smile. "Just a little worried though. Have a lot going through my mind at the moment." To prove her point, she reached out to him with their bond and shared with him all the worries that currently weighed down her mind. Did he want children again, or was that something he wasn't interested in? Could she give him children if he wanted them? Would she be a good mother? What happened to Jenny? If they found her, would he want her to travel with them - provided she wanted to of course. What about his family on Gallifrey? Would they like her? How would they explain her existence and their complicated history to the Time Lords? Would she actually fit in with the stuffy society?

She heard him whisper _'My Bad Wolf'_ in her mind, and Rose clung to that thread coming from her husband. Swallowing hard, she looked at him. He gave her a comforting smile and pressed his forehead against hers. Through their bond, he sent her all his love he'd had for her from the 1100 years he'd known her. He sent her his support as well, plus the answers he was certain about. Children would come to them in time; and perhaps he wasn't ready for that step yet, he knew one day he would want children with her, and he knew that she would be an amazing mother. As for Jenny and Gallifrey, his family would think she was the best thing that had happened to him. If anyone disagreed; well, wasn't that the reason he ran away in the first place? He hadn't really liked the stuffy rules and regulations in the first place, so she could keep him company in his 'outcast' status.

Rose laughed through their bond. And then sobered as his next thought trickled through.

' _Am I a good man?'_

Blinking, she ran her fingers over the nape of his neck. His blue-green eyes studied her carefully as he waited for her to answer. She gave him one of her mega-watt smiles. _'Yes, of course you are,'_ her reply came without hesitation. To add emphasis, she also whispered his name.

The TARDIS came to a halt. They'd landed without either one of them telling the magnificent old girl where to go. Rose pulled away from the Doctor and asked aloud, "Where are we?"

"Shall we find out?"

Together, they moved to the doors of the TARDIS and the Doctor peered out. "Oh, this is Olympus. I haven't been here in a very long while." He looked down at his wife with a smile on his face. "I wonder what trouble we can find."

"Us? Find trouble?" Rose asked with a laugh. "Really, what gave you that impression?"

The Doctor joined in with her laughter. "Because, love, with you around we always find trouble."

 **NTLNTL**

As the husband and wife pair strolled through the streets of Olympus, the Doctor found himself taking hold of Rose's hand so they wouldn't be separated. Rose noticed that it was him that initiated their handholding and she smiled to herself. So much for his current body not wanting any outward displays of affection. But then, she thought it was more to do with _her_ current body than anything else. She loved to run with the Doctor, holding his hand. In her previous body, it was more about the flirting than anything else.

"So, this place is really called Olympus? After Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods?"

"Yes," the Doctor smiled. "At least, this part of the planet is. I think we're in the section of the city dedicated to Aphrodite."

"Goddess of love and beauty," Rose added. "Down by the ocean would be the part dedicated to Poseidon. Around the capital building and other important buildings would be for Zeus." She frowned and said, "The section for Dionysus should be around here somewhere."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he does share one thing in common with Aphrodite: fertility – in regards to humans anyway."

"So you know your Greek culture," the Doctor said, sounding impressed.

Rose smiled sweetly up at her husband; perhaps he'd forgotten what she'd studied at the Lunar University. "I'm an archeologist, love."

The Doctor laughed. Of course, his wife had studied different cultures and ancient ruins while she gained her doctoral degree in archeology. And, he found out once she'd returned, she had studied astrophysics and quantum theory in the parallel world, taking her total number of doctoral degrees to three.

"So where are we headed?" she asked.

"I was thinking of lunch, and then heading to a spa, or any other beauty treatment place of your choice."

She stopped, and pulled him up short beside her. Turning to face each other, Rose asked, "Did you bring me here to get spoilt, Doctor?" He looked down at his feet and he shifted uncomfortably. He may have thought about bringing her here years ago, but hadn't ever really gotten around to it. She laid her free hand over his upper arm. "I was the one piloting, love."

"Yet I was the one who wanted to bring you here. I guess the TARDIS thought it was time we got away somewhere, and not think about the hard times we've been having lately," the Doctor returned.

"Wanna seal that with a kiss?" she tempted. He smiled and lightly brushed his lips against hers before placing his forehead on hers. She returned his smile. Both smiles dropped slightly when they heard someone screaming. Looking in the direction of where the scream had come from, Rose rolled her eyes. "Or not. Looks like our plans aren't gonna work out."

The Doctor glowered at her for a moment, before stating, "Come on."

It didn't take them long before they got to the crowd of gawkers staring at whatever had happened. The Doctor squared his jaw and started pushing his way through the crowds to the center to work out what was happening when he heard his wife clear her throat. The people closest to them turned and looked at the pair of them. And then, their gaze followed Rose's indication down to her identification at her belt. The Doctor frowned as the crowd parted seamlessly in front of Rose. He had to stick close to her as she made her way effortlessly through the crowd to the front.

' _How?'_ the Doctor asked through their bond.

' _Family run business.'_ Rose returned, and showed the Doctor her badge. P.I. Bad Wolf, BWC. _'Worked like a charm in the other universe.'_ She looked around the crowd and started issuing orders. "Alright, everyone take five large steps backwards and allow us to do our jobs." Looking around, she dared anyone to disagree with her. Her eyes narrowed as a smart mouthed Olympian complained.

"Why should we listen to you?"

Rose got right up into the young man's face. "Do you really want to try me, mate?" The Doctor hid his smile as he knelt beside the body to examine what had happened. Rose was by no means short by human standards, but amongst the Olympians, she was rather on the shorter side. So the Doctor found it amusing that the young man backed down from his spitfire of a wife. "Didn't think so." She turned to look at him. "And you can wipe that smirk off your face, Doctor. What do we have?"

"I'm not sure yet."

She gave him a dry laugh. "Yeah, that's a first. Was this an accident or was it intentional?" Rose noticed his attention wasn't quite with her and the situation around them. Snapping her fingers, she bought his attention back to her. "Doctor! Accidental or intentional?"

"Oh, intentional."

"Thank you." Rose stood up and looked around the area again. The crowd had moved back, just as she'd asked. "Next question: domestic or intergalactic?"

"Does it matter?" the Doctor asked.

"If you want me to be able to use my badge and galactic pull, then yes." She spotted something close to one of the buildings the dead man could have come out of. Moving over to the small, torn piece of cloth, Rose called out, "Doctor, have a look at this." She reached out with a pencil she had in her pocket. He came over and crouched beside her.

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are?"

Rose and the Doctor whipped around. Out of the crowd came the local law enforcement. Shooting her husband a look as if telling him to stay put, Rose stood up and flashed her badge again. "I'm Bad Wolf, P.I. with the Bad Wolf Corporation. This is my partner, codenamed 'the Doctor'. We're here to help."

"We can deal with this," the chief inspector said. "This is a local incident."

"Alright. If that's the way you want to do it. Doctor, with me." Rose began to walk away. The crowd parted for her, just as before.

The Doctor wasn't paying attention. He'd heard her calling for him, but he was more interested in the fabric and the clues she'd found before. That split second of his inattention was all that was required for someone to take their opportunity.

' _Doctor!'_ Rose's panicked voice echoed through their bond before it was abruptly stopped. The Doctor snapped his head up and in the direction he last heard Rose. But it was too late – she was already gone.


	2. Part 1

**Part One**

Melody Rose Tyler woke with her hands bound and restrained above her head. Just by the grating sound of cooling metal around her, she could tell that she was aboard a moving spaceship, or perhaps a station of some sort. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but judging by the stiffness in her arms and the fogginess in her brain, it had been a while. Added to that, she felt panic rising in her when she tried and failed to locate the Doctor.

She pulled on her restraints and tried to sit up. It didn't take her long to twist around to a sitting position so she could have a better view of her surroundings. Blearily looking around, she noticed the cell next to her was occupied.

"Where are we?" Rose asked. "A cell obviously, but, what type of kidnappers are these and where are they taking us?"

"You're remarkably coherent for someone who was unconscious an hour ago," the older woman said. "And you don't know why you were taken?"

"As you said, unconscious an hour ago. Who are they and what do they want with us?" Rose looked the other woman up and down. "Not for the pleasure trade, obviously. Then what? Think, think, think, think, think." The younger woman's (in all apparent aspects) eyes widened in shock as she reached out for the bond that linked her to her husband and could only feel a minor pull from it at the back of her mind. It wasn't enough for her to establish a link with him; it was just enough to know that he was still alive – as was the TARDIS.

The older woman noticed the fear, worry and shock play across Rose's face and she brushed it off as the imprisonment settling in her new cell mate. Rose turned her attention to the older woman, as if she could hear her thoughts. (In reality, Rose could only pick up the surface thoughts of the people around her).

"Oh, please! Imprisonment doesn't shock me. I spent 320 years in Storm Cage."

The greying woman looked at her in surprise, and then horror. "I didn't say that aloud."

Rose frowned and thought back over what she said. She felt herself flush with embarrassment. She couldn't believe she could have been so stupid to let slip she could 'read' people's surface thoughts. "'m sorry."

"You're a telepath. Like my people. I'm Susan, by the way."

"Melody."

Susan frowned and asked. "Did you really spend 320 years in Storm Cage?" Rose nodded. "What did you do? Only the serious offenders get sent there."

"I killed a good man. A great man, actually." Rose allowed her lower lip to quiver. "He's going to come for me. He has to come for me."

"Who?"

"My husband. This is the first time we've been separated since our bonding."

Susan looked around their cells and felt a sense of dread. She had been trapped with the space traders for two years – long enough to feel the despair that no one was coming for her. And long enough to know that if this mysterious 'Melody' had a bond with another living person, then whatever their plans were for Rose were a moot point. Any telepath they kidnapped and sold needed to be free of any bond or link to be useful to them. Unlike her – but having age on her side, Susan had managed to convince the traders that she would be useful to them in caring for their new 'stock'.

"You've got a bond with your husband? How long?"

"Two years, for the permanent bond." Rose grew silent. Susan let her. "Where's home?" the younger woman asked suddenly.

The older woman (in appearance, not age) smiled sadly. She hadn't been 'home' for nearly 35 years, and she missed her children and grandchildren dearly. "Earth isn't my home, but has been the closest thing to it since my grandfather and I left our home planet many years ago. It's where my husband and children are from."

"I'm sorry," Rose said quietly.

"Where's your home?" Susan asked in return.

"Oh, I'm never quite sure. All over the place, really. Wherever my husband and our amazing ship is, probably." Their conversation was interrupted when the guards came by and found Rose awake.

"Looks like our new stock is awake," they laughed. One of them entered the cell and cut Rose's bonds before they dragged the young woman out and away from the cells. Susan followed their movements, wishing that she could do something to help the woman she'd only barely started to get to know.

 **NTLNTL**

The Doctor did not panic. If anyone asked him, he was merely worried: very worried. Rose meant the universe to him, and to lose her was the end of happiness as he knew it. She was his life, his bond mate, and without her, he felt hollow.

He sat at a coffee shop in London somewhere, without ordering anything, trying to decide what to do. Normally, if he and Rose got separated for any length of time, they would always be able to find each other through their bond. But that was the first thing he tried when he realized that she was gone. He had followed their bond as far as he could until he had felt Rose being transported off Olympus and to a ship orbiting the planet. He returned to the TARDIS and had tried to follow the weak connection he still had with his Rose before it had vanished into deep space.

Oh, he knew she wasn't dead – not yet – but if he didn't find her soon, then he would really lose it all. Much more than he already had. He ran his hands over his tired and weary face. It was only then that he noticed that he was no longer alone. A man he recognized well had slid into the chair opposite his.

"I thought you could use a coffee," Jack said.

"Thank you," the Doctor whispered.

"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

The Doctor reached over and picked up the coffee mug Jack had bought for him. "More like the universe."

"What happened, Doctor? Where's Rose?" Jack looked in the aging face of the 'Scotsman' in front of him, and he felt his face drain. "What happed to Rosie, Doc?"

The Doctor shifted and didn't answer for a long time. He opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again. Where was he to begin? "Rose was kidnapped. Two months ago."

Jack set his jaw. "Why?" The captain was trying not to get emotional, and yet when it came to his 'little sister', he was anything but rational. "Why target our Rosie? From what I've heard, she hasn't made as many enemies as you. Yet."

The Doctor's gaze darkened. "Oh, this wasn't about enemies. This was about something far more sinister. There is a high demand out there for telepathic beings."

"Oh, shite, Rose is telepathic. She just told me when I left her at the bar. Doctor, we've got to do something." When the Doctor wasn't about to say anything, Jack bought the Time Lord's attention back to him. "Doctor, what do we do? We need to find Rose and get her back. If we don't do something to get her out, so help me I'm going to kill you."

"Don't you think I know that already? I _can't_ feel her, and that is very, _very_ bad for me. And her." The Doctor frowned and looked his impossibly wrong friend over. "How did you get here? How did you know this was me?"

Jack pulled out the faded letter and envelope he'd had in his possession since he'd been stuck living through the 20th century. "I got this envelope and message back when I was working out of Cardiff during the late 70s. During the time you worked at UNIT. It came from Rose." The Doctor reached out to take the letter off his beloved wife's brother. Before Jack released it, he added, "I know it's from Rose, because I recognize her handwriting anywhere, but until last week, I never knew what the message meant."

"What message?"

Jack held up the note. "This message, Doctor. She wrote: _'Dearest brother, I won't warn you about reading this before a certain time, because I know you'll just ignore it. But please, keep the envelope sealed until you catch up with the grumpy 'Scotsman' known as my husband in a coffeehouse just outside the Royal Albert Hall. You'll know him by his dour expression – and the fact he always draws attention to himself even though he tries not to. Go to him after our discussions on respective ages and mighty superior Mr I-Don't-Need-Anyone swans off. 17-1-2015, 13:58. P.S. if you ignore this letter and try to change fate, you won't be able to help the Doctor, and, as a result, me. Give the package to the Doctor when you find him.'_ "

The Doctor snatched the letter out of Jack's hand and looked it over. "Me? Dour? Is that how she really sees me?"

Jack shook his head and took hold of the other package he'd been holding onto for centuries.

 **NTLNTL**

If there was one thing that Rose held onto, it was the hope that though the Doctor didn't know where she was, she knew that he would be coming for her. It didn't matter how often they came for her or beat her or tortured her while trying to get her to use her telepathic gifts, Rose never let go of the hope that one day, her husband would find her and rescue her. Susan had long since given into her despair that no one would be coming to rescue her, and had told Rose not long after she'd arrived to stop thinking of a rescue.

Rose had looked at her new friend with determination and disappointment. "I am not one for giving up." Even though she was black and blue from all the beatings the guards had given her, she would not give up. And they had yet to confirm she was a telepath at all.

"You have been here for nearly eight weeks, and no one has come yet," Susan said, trying to be gentle, and wanting Rose to let go of her 'silly, childish' hopes. "And face it, no one will come."

"My husband is going to come. If my parents were still alive and traveling with him, then I would warn these traders twice over who is about to come." Rose took in a deep breath. "A good man is coming for me and the Last Centurion would."

"You know of the last centurion myth from Earth?"

"He wasn't a myth because his name was Rory and he was my father. He waited 2,000 years for my mother, protecting her and the Pandorica. The good man is my husband."

"But you're human."

"No, I'm not, but my parents _were_. They traveled with the Doctor, and long story, they had me."

Susan's jaw dropped. This was the first time she'd met anyone with so much faith in one person, and to know that they had faith in her _grandfather_ was astounding. The last time she had seen her grandfather, she'd lost a son and had sworn never to see or talk to him ever again. "So you know the Doctor." She couldn't really keep the spite out of her voice.

Rose narrowed her eyes and looked Susan hard in the eye. Susan shifted slightly and looked away from the stony expression sent her way by the younger woman. "I take it you know him too, from the way you're reacting."

"Yes. I lost a son because of him."

"And you still haven't forgiven him for that?" Susan was silent. "And are you telling me not to put my faith in him? I hate to break it to ya, that's not going to happen."

Susan looked up at Rose with a question in her eyes.

"Without him, I would not be here, and who I am today. Oh, there would be another Melody Pond out there somewhere that grew up with her parents in Leadworth, but that wouldn't be me. I wasn't raised by them. And, without me, the Doctor would have recklessly died trying to save Earth one last time."

"What?" Susan asked quietly.

Rose suddenly stopped and took a deep breath. It wouldn't do for her to lose her temper at the only other person she'd be seeing for the foreseeable future. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just been very stressful for me. This is the longest time I've been apart from him since I got trapped in a parallel world the first time. And I'm sure you don't take kindly to people berating your husband in front of you."

"He's _your_ husband? You're bonded to him?"

"For better or worse. I know he's not perfect, but at least he tries for me."

"And he wanted the bond?"

Rose narrowed her eyes again, this time in question. "You sound like that's something your Doctor would not do."

"And you said your parents are human, which makes you also human… Why would Grandfather bind himself to the lifespan of a human _child_?"

"Please just stop there. I am _not_ human and _do not_ have a human lifespan." The younger woman stopped. "Wait, you said grandfather." Rose closed her eyes. "Oh, you're Susan Campbell, you used to be Susan Foreman. You lost Alex."

"You know me, and you know what happened?"

Rose nodded, knowing that there was nothing she could really say to really comfort Susan in her grief. The only thing that could help the both of them now (for Susan to be able to move on and for Rose to be able to really live again) was the Doctor. And then, something happened that made Rose freeze.

Susan noticed. "What is it?"

Rose placed a hand flat on her stomach and tried to work out the fluttering touches she felt in her mind. And tried to work out if it was possible for her to be what she thought. "Oh, bugger."

"What?" Susan echoed.

Rose looked fully at the other woman. "I haven't had my monthly cycle since I arrived."


	3. Part 2

**Part Two**

Captain Jack Harkness set his jaw and looked the Doctor over. They were currently on Arubem Prime and were making their way through the forest toward where Rose's instructions told them to go. "So, do you think that we'll find Rose here?" The Doctor seemed to ignore him in favor of focusing on getting to their destination. "Doctor?"

"This is just our first step," the Doctor answered quietly. "And Rose won't be here."

"How do you know?"

The Doctor stopped and really looked into Jack's eyes. If the immortal man could die, he would be very afraid of the Doctor right then. Jack hadn't ever seen the Doctor look so haunted or lost since, well, ever. Not even before Rose had returned from the parallel world. The two of them held the other's gaze for what seemed like an age (but in reality it was only thirty seconds) before the Doctor turned back to the path ahead of them and continued on. The Doctor didn't say anything.

Jack was worried. Never had the Doctor been so quiet. And that was saying a lot, because he had met at least three other regenerations of the Doctor (it could've been more, but he wasn't so sure he'd met earlier regenerations or not).

"She's alive," the Doctor suddenly said. "But not here."

"Then why are we here?"

"Because this is where she wants us to start looking for her. Somewhere on this planet is something that will help us find her. Or find the people responsible for taking her from me on Olympus."

Jack stopped and thought about what the Doctor had said. Rose really wanted them to waste time in searching for clues on a distant planet while she was captured, and most likely getting hurt while she was at it?

"She can handle herself, Jack."

"But how do you know she's not here?"

"Our bond," the Doctor hissed. "I can feel her, but only barely. I know she's still alive, and that's it. If we were in the same vicinity, I would be able to follow our link and find her. I can't do that here."

"Oh." Jack looked downcast and continued after the Doctor. He didn't know, and really didn't understand, the Doctor's marriage bond to Rose. "I didn't know."

"It's not something we advertise." The Doctor took in a deep breath and paused as the two of them came up on the camp they had been heading to. "But the good thing is that I know that she's still out there somewhere. And she will know that I'm coming for her." The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out the instructions sent to Jack and added, "This gives me hope that we'll find her, because she wrote them. In Gallifreyan."

Jack smiled slightly. He knew that the Doctor had only really taught Rose Gallifreyan after she had returned to him from the parallel world. "Shall we find out why we needed to come here, then?"

The Doctor gave his friend a ghost of a smile and nodded.

 **NTLNTL**

Every inch of Rose's body hurt as the guards dumped her back in her cell. She curled into a fetal position on her side and protectively laid her arms across her belly and where her unborn child lay. It had been five months since she'd been taken from Olympus: three months since she found out she was carrying a child (and just over one and a half since she started to show); and still the Doctor hadn't found her, hadn't rescued her from this living nightmare. He didn't even know that she was pregnant, and here she was, afraid that she was going to lose their child.

"Are you sure she's a telepath?" the master of the ship asked as he looked down on Rose's prone figure.

"I felt her when we took her from Olympus."

"Was it her, or the thing she's carrying?"

The head jailer frowned and walked over to where the broken woman lay. They had tortured this woman repetitively for the five months they'd had her in their possession, and yet, there was not one shred of evidence that Rose was in any way telepathic.

"I was sure it was her. I heard a woman's voice in my head as we scouted the area, and heard _her_ calling out for someone named 'Doctor' when we took her."

"But _she_ hasn't shown any signs since."

"No. Perhaps you are right, and it _is_ the thing growing in her."

The two men left Rose lying half dead on the jail floor and locked her up. Again. She heard the lock slide into place and couldn't bring herself to care.

Susan looked horrified at the condition her friend was in. The two women had formed a bond over the months they'd been trapped together, and more so since they both worked out they were connected as family. Both had shared stories of their past, and their respective experiences traveling through space and time with the Doctor. Even though Susan hadn't quite forgiven the Doctor for the loss of her son, she still cared about the man and was thankful that he was still alive out there somewhere. What made it worse for her, though, was hearing about the loss of Gallifrey and the effect that had on the Doctor's wellbeing. And Susan had to admit, what she'd heard from Rose made her thankful for the younger woman's presence in her grandfather's life.

Looking over at the still form of her friend, Susan was worried what the loss of this remarkable woman would do to her already devastated grandfather. "Please, Rose, tell me you're still alive. For Grandfather's sake, I hope you're still alive."

Rose groaned softly and clutched her stomach. The guards had been particularly unbearable with their mental and physical torture that day. "Yes," she said and then winced in pain as a particularly sharp kick from the baby hit her injured ribs. Rose started coughing, and Susan didn't like the sound of her shallow breathing – and the sight of blood Rose was coughing up. "I'm still alive. But I really need to get out of here. I won't be able to handle much more of this before I have to regenerate."

"We've got to get you out of here before the baby comes. Or Rassilon help me, Grandfather won't be happy."

Rose laughed slightly, before she started coughing again. Oh, she already knew the Doctor would not be happy with the way these people were treating her. But for him to find out they also had his granddaughter – and unborn child – there would be hell to pay.

 **NTLNTL**

The Doctor – in his fourth body with his long scarf and brown, curly hair – looked around the area just after he stepped out of the TARDIS behind Sarah Jane. "Ah, it's another ship," he said.

"Why did you bring us here?" Sarah Jane asked. "Haven't we had enough of space ships or stations yet?"

The Time Lord raised a bushy eyebrow and gave his companion a wide smile. They had just come from giving Harry Sullivan his first tour of space – and had managed to just escape the giant space ark. "We can never have enough of stations or ships as long as there's trouble out there, Sarah." He looked back over his shoulder at the TARDIS and called out, "Are you coming, Harry?"

Harry stepped out of the TARDIS. "Yes, Doctor."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "No shock this time? You know that we can move?"

"I wasn't expecting it the first time, Doctor. This time, though, I was." Harry looked around the immediate area. "This looks just like the last place you bought us."

"Except without the cold, and there are lights," Sarah Jane put in. "Again, Doctor: why are we here? Wasn't that Ark in Space enough for one space station? Couldn't we have done something like a planet?"

The Doctor moved to the nearest door. "Where's the fun in leaving now?" he asked. "May as well have a look around while we're here."

 **NTLNTL**

Bad Wolf… Those same words from Satellite 5 and from Cardiff (the first time he'd gone to Cardiff with the 9th Doctor and Rose) were now on the databanks of the camp Jack was looking through. It seemed like the same two words were all over the files they needed to start bringing down the criminal ring that had taken _their_ Rose. And Jack knew that she really did belong to both of them, even if the Doctor hated to admit it. Rose may have been the Doctor's wife, but she was Jack's sister first.

"How can those words be here now?" Jack asked. He hadn't ever been told what those words meant, and hearing them again after so many centuries since Satellite 5 really scared him. "What's Bad Wolf?"

The Doctor said one word in reply. One word was all that was needed. "Rose."

"Rose is the Bad Wolf?"

"Yeah. Back when she bought you back, at the same time she scattered those two words all over time and space to lead her back to us. But she's used the words a number of times since to give me hope, or a warning, that something big was happening." The Doctor quickly looked over the files they had found. All of it was for low level informants, product descriptions (thankfully Rose wasn't on that list – yet) and certain meeting points. At one of the descriptions, the Doctor's hearts stopped.

Woman, blond, late twenties, 1.57 meters in height, untrained telepath, respiratory bypass, double heartbeat.

Jack looked at the entry that the Doctor had stopped on and frowned. "What's so important about that particular woman, Doctor? I mean, aren't we going to try free all of these poor, unfortunate people?"

"We've got to find her first. And get her out," the Doctor said sharply. "She's family."

"Family?"

"My daughter." Oh, how those words just tumbled from his lips. It had taken him a long time to really accept that Jenny, a child of the machine on Messaline, was actually _his_ before he thought he'd lost her. But now, seeing her statistics written in this machine for telepath slavers made him boil. And he knew then that _this_ was the reason why Rose had him go to Arubem Prime first. He knew that though his main concern would be to find his wife, he also had another goal to keep him going: find and rescue Jenny.

"Where do we find her, Doc?"

The Doctor scowled at the nickname, but knew he couldn't change Jack's mind about it. He quickly looked up the meet point for Jenny's sale. "Pluto. And here are the co-ordinates. Let's go."

 **NTLNTL**

Susan tried to ease Rose's pain. The guards had allowed her to be in the same cell as Rose once they had bought her back after another round of torture. She was worried. Very worried.

Rose was barely conscious, and after what the younger woman had said after her last round of torture, she wasn't sure what would happen if the guards actually managed to beat the Time Lady to death. Susan couldn't ever remember if there was an instance of a naturally born child on Gallifrey after the looming process had taken over the reproductive cycle. She knew that she had been loomed, just like both of her parents and their parents before that. In fact, she thought that by the time she had come into existence on her home planet, the looms had been in play for more than five generations.

No one had ever experimented with carrying a natural born child through the regeneration process.

Looking down at the now disfigured face of her closest friend, Susan wished for her grandfather to come soon. Or else she would never ever forgive him for leaving his wife and child to die in this miserable existence. "Oh, please hurry, Grandfather," she whispered as she tried to clean out the wounds that would surely scar.


	4. Part 3

**Part Three**

Sarah Jane was getting a little impatient with the Doctor and his scarf traipsing around this not so interesting ship. She looked over to where Harry was trailing along with her and she rolled her eyes. They had been on the ship for just over an hour and a half without any sign of danger, or life whatsoever. But it seemed like the Doctor was on a mission. And it looked like he'd found what he was looking for when he lit up at the sight of a locked door.

It didn't take him long to unlock the door and once he had the door open, the Doctor shot both Harry and Sarah Jane a smile. He raised a hand to indicate that they should go through before him. Harry went through first and as she was heading through after him, Sarah Jane shot the Doctor a questioning look.

"Why did you bring us here? Oh great, you've led us to the prison block…" Sarah Jane said, before she trailed off. She had caught sight of two women in one of the cells – the older woman was cradling a younger woman's head in her lap. Harry's eyes also widened at the state the younger woman was in – bruises in various stages of healing were littered all over the exposed skin (and most likely there were hidden ones as well). But that wasn't the worst of it. The woman was barely recognizable because of the half healed cuts and burns on her face. The older woman looked up as they came in through the door, but she barely noticed the first two people. Her attention was on the second man: the man with brown curly hair and the ridiculously long scarf. And although she had never met the Doctor in his fourth body, Susan knew right away who it was.

"Grandfather."

The Doctor glanced over the younger woman before fully turning his attention to the older woman. "Susan."

"Grandfather?" Harry mouthed to Sarah Jane.

She shrugged. "I didn't know he had a family."

In record time, the Doctor had the cell door open and was crouching beside Susan. "My dear Arkytior. What are you doing here?"

"No time for that, you need to help Melody."

Rose moaned slightly as if she could sense the Doctor (even though it was a younger version of the man she'd married) and turned her head toward the Doctor's voice. "Doctor?"

The Doctor looked down at the semi-unconscious woman and he frowned. It was as if this woman in his granddaughter's arms knew him somehow. She was reaching out for him subconsciously – both physically and mentally – and that scared the man.

"Who is Melody?" the Doctor asked.

' _Love…'_ a soft voice whispered at the back of the Doctor's mind. He first looked at Susan to see if she was the one speaking to him in his mind. She shook her head slightly and then looked down at Rose's face in her lap. _'Help me. Please.'_

Harry had finished his preliminary scan of Rose. "I can't tell if anything's broken; she doesn't look good, Doctor."

"Who is Melody?" the Doctor repeated, directing his question at his granddaughter. "To me?"

' _Marriage bond,'_ Rose answered in his mind. The Doctor took in a sharp breath and looked down at the woman lying in his granddaughter's lap. _'Future.'_ The man in question deepened his frown, ignoring all else around him now and solely focused on the young woman that would come to mean so much to him. That was, if she was telling him the truth.

' _How do I know?'_ he asked back along the link she'd established.

With the last of her strength, Rose roused herself enough to catch hold of the Doctor's scarf. She pulled his face down to hers and whispered a single word in his ear. None of the other three people in the room heard what Rose had whispered, or really saw the Doctor's reaction to that word. But once he had loosened his scarf from around his neck – Rose seemed to refuse to let it go, even in her unconscious state – the Doctor was different. Susan saw a look of amazement pass across his features, and she knew that whatever Rose had said convinced her grandfather of the woman's identity.

The Doctor took in Rose's face intently before he ran his eyes up and down her figure, taking in all the bruises and all the signs of torture – physical scars could be mended easily. He wasn't so sure about the emotional scars this incredible woman would carry from her ordeal. Yet one thing he knew for certain: she must have been spectacular for him to allow himself to grow close enough to share his name with her. Not even his wife on Gallifrey knew that much about him – in fact, he hardly knew his first wife at all, and hadn't even seen the woman since before his first regeneration.

Setting his jaw, the Doctor looked up at his granddaughter. "Susan, how long has she been like this? How long has she been here? Actually, how long have you been here? Shouldn't you be with David?"

"She's been here five and a half months. I've been here two and a half years – and I lost David a long time ago."

The Doctor settled his gaze on Rose's growing belly – and the child that was growing within her. A soft smile graced his features as he reached out and laid a hand over her womb. The child within gave his palm a firm kick and the Doctor couldn't help but smile. "His?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Susan replied, realizing that the Doctor was asking if the child was from his future. But she knew that this wasn't the time to ask.

"Doctor, do you think we can get out of here now?" Sarah Jane asked.

The Doctor looked up at his two companions and gave them a bright smile. "Of course, Sarah." He looked back at his granddaughter and asked, "Are there any other telepaths imprisoned here?"

"They took the last of the other prisoners off yesterday. It's just Melody and me."

The Doctor nodded and shifted so he could lift Rose into his arms. Once he was standing with her resting against his chest, Rose shifted slightly and buried her face in his neck and fisted her right hand in his clothing, right over his left heart. The Time Lord took a deep breath; he hadn't expected Rose to shift herself closer to him. Her left hand still clutched his scarf tightly. "Harry, lead the way back to the TARDIS. Sarah, help Susan. And, try not to be seen."

 **NTLNTL**

Jack and the 12th Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the Way Station outpost set up on Pluto's surface. The place was filled with traders – many of them illegal – and buyers. The Doctor raised a silver eyebrow as Jack seemed to be in his element. But the Time Lord stopped when he recognized a woman that seemed to be watching them.

"Did you find it, Doctor?" the woman, Missy, asked. Jack spun around to find the woman. A half smile started to spread over his face as he went to introduce himself. Missy smiled sardonically and added, "Oh, and you bought the freak with you."

"Do I know you?"

The Doctor gave a single nod. "Meet the Master."

"Please," Missy pouted. "It's Missy now."

Jack looked taken back. "Really? I thought he died on the Valiant."

"Oh, you wish, freak. Now, where is that lovely wife of yours, Doctor? Oh, I know! I may have let the telepath traders know where you were and may have suggested that she was a strong telepath."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "So it was you that told them where to find us? They won't be able to get anything from her or for her."

"What?" Missy asked.

"You didn't know that she's not a telepath?" The Doctor pursed his lips. "Except with me. And, even if she was, there's no way to prove that. The TARDIS made sure that there could be no one, ever again, messing around with my Bad Wolf's head." He then looked down at his fingernails as if he wasn't interested. "Do you know what a wolf does when she feels threatened?"

"Why would I care what a silly little canine would do if it's threatened?"

"Because you had a hand in the kidnapping and subsequent torture of _my_ Bad Wolf. I would not want to be in your position when she comes for you." The Doctor gave his longtime friend turned enemy a hard smile. He started to walk past Missy and he was almost smug when her face fell – he knew that she wanted to really hurt him and have him despair when he couldn't get his wife back. But there was one thing she hadn't counted on: Rose and her connection to the TARDIS. The Doctor stopped as he brushed passed Missy. "They attack. And yes, we found 'it'." The Doctor knew, though, that he had yet to find Gallifrey, but he never wanted Missy to realize he hadn't.

Jack raised his eyebrows. His respect for the Doctor just shot through the roof – and his worry for Rose just multiplied by ten.

Missy stopped them before they got too far. "You found Gallifrey? Where?"

"Why should I tell you? You'll only take it from me again."

Missy grinned. She knew then that the Doctor and Rose _hadn't_ found the planet – or else they wouldn't have been still touring the galaxy. "If you are here for that child of the machine, Doctor, then you're too late." The two men turned back to the rival Time Lady and she gave them a sweet smile. "I'm afraid that – Jenny was it? – has already been sold." With that, Missy left the two travelers on Pluto and the Way Station.

The Doctor's face fell. Jenny had already been sold? He started making his way through the crowded Way Station to the area designated for slavers to sell their 'goods'. Jack was hot on his heels. But Missy had been right; they were too late. Jenny was nowhere to be seen.

"So, what do we do now, Doctor? If Jenny's not here, then where do we find her?"

The Doctor's expression darkened. "We stop all trade on this station. Now."

"And how do you plan to do that?'

Looking around, the Time Lord saw a nearby terminal and smiled. Pulling out the data stick he had taken from Arubem Prime with all the data marked 'Bad Wolf', he uploaded it all to every single data pad and electronic receiver in the station. Jack laughed as he looked around and found that every single person, alien or otherwise, broke out into a riot. The Doctor gave Jack a hard smile. "Just like that. Now, you remember what I said about what wolves do when they feel threatened? Well, it's far different from what they do when they feel threatened and they're protecting their cubs." Jack nodded, and the two of them shared a knowing grin. They both knew that Rose would do anything to protect her family, and it seemed that it included what was left of the Doctor's family. "Let's find out where Jenny's gone. I'm not going to give up yet."

 **NTLNTL**

Rose felt safe for the first time in months. _'Doctor?'_ she reached out for him. When she didn't feel him respond, she started to shift around and roused herself from sleep. She couldn't work out why her 'pillow' had soft outer layers and was also firm. She could tell that it wasn't the ground, because she was also upright. Her breathing hitched – were the slavers going to come back and get her for more of their 'sport'? She tried to get away from the firm hold that was pressing her against this unyielding surface.

"Shh," a voice she didn't recognize whispered against her hair. "I've got you. You're safe, Melody."

That soft voice, and the double heartbeat underneath her fingertips, seemed to draw Rose out of her fog induced mind. "Doctor?" she asked aloud, though in barely a whisper.

"I'm here."

"TARDIS?"

"We're trying to get back there now."

"I think the coast is clear," Sarah Jane said from her vantage point by the door.

Rose recognized the voice of her longtime friend and former compainion to her husband. "Is that Sarah Jane? She sounds so young." Slowly opening her eyes, Rose was met with a multicolored scarf and some kind of tweed waistcoat and a burgundy neck piece.

Sarah Jane looked over to where Rose was enveloped in the Doctor's arms, and felt jealous – how she wished it was her in the Doctor's arms, not this strange woman. "Do you know me?"

"Yes."

"How? I would remember meeting you."

The Doctor felt Rose lift her head slightly from his shoulder and he looked down at her. It was the first time that Rose really had a good look at his face. "You look so young, Doctor."

"I'm really not, you know."

Rose giggled softly and buried her face in his neck again. "Oh, you really are." She stopped laughing as her body protested at the pulling of various wounded muscles. ' _It hurts to laugh, Doctor.'_

' _What's so funny? Hmmm?'_ the Doctor questioned through their open link. He found that he could only communicate with this wonderful woman when she first started the link from her end. And it seemed to occur naturally to her.

' _Just remembering when we first said that to each other and you were much older then than you are now.'_

The Doctor smiled and rested his chin on Rose's head. _'I can see why I like you.'_ Aloud, the Doctor addressed Sarah Jane's question. "Sarah, Melody is my wife from the future."

"I don't know about you, Grandfather, but I can speak for Melody and me – we've spent enough time aboard this ship. Can we leave?"

Harry nodded. "Please. Sarah Jane?"

"No, wait; there are guards out there now. Oh no! They must know that we're here!" Sarah Jane crept backward and away from the door as two guards stopped outside their vantage spot. One of them was pointing in their direction.

Rose's grip suddenly grew stronger on the Doctor's collar and she turned to view the doorway. She was _not_ going to get captured again. Harry, Sarah Jane and Susan looked at the woman in the Doctor's arms with something akin to shock or horror on their faces. The Doctor, unable to see Rose's face, felt power radiating from the woman he held tight to his chest.

If there was any doubt in any of their minds about Rose being human – it was gone now. Rose's eyes were glowing slightly as she called out to the fourth Doctor's TARDIS.


	5. Part 4

**Part Four**

Captain Jack Harkness smiled as he made his way through the crowds to the final buyer's market for telepathic slaves. He had systematically gone through each and every market since the Doctor had dropped him off on Poosh to shut them down. And it was good to be able to triumph over each and every person buying – or selling – the beings.

He smiled as he watched the last slave being released to freedom. He also knew that the Doctor would find Jenny and get her freed. But when Jack had asked about what was to be done about Rose, the Doctor was being evasive.

Jack wondered how much the Doctor actually knew about Rose's fate. It seemed that since he had first shown up with the package at the beginning of their quest to find her, the Doctor knew something that he didn't. And the Doctor hadn't been forthcoming about what had happened to his wife until he had offhandedly said Rose had been tortured to Missy.

How had the Doctor known that? Unless the warnings the Doctor spoke of when talking about the Bad Wolf had not actually been warnings but memories from the Doctor's own past. If Jack thought of it, he knew the Bad Wolf legends had been around the telepathic community for months, if not years or centuries. Even _he_ had heard not to mess with the Bad Wolf when he'd been a Time Agent chasing down telepathic criminals. He'd shrugged it off as something unrelated back when he first met Rose and the Doctor, but now it made sense.

Legend had it the Bad Wolf was a powerful goddess of golden light that was only seen when she, or one of her own, was threatened. And if Jack knew his history (which he was certain he did), there had been an incident aboard a telepathic slave ship he'd heard about back when he was a Time Agent. The incident involved a blond woman they'd captured and tortured for months but had yielded no results until, one day, she felt threatened enough that she had little choice but to leave the ship in tatters and the crew dead. No one knew exactly what had happened aboard the ship when it was found months later adrift in space. So no one could ever confirm or deny the rumors.

Jack smiled and shook his head. Except, perhaps, the Doctor.

 **NTLNTL**

The Doctor handed Clara a hand mirror he'd found and asked, "Is that any good?"

Clara took the mirror off the Doctor and took a good look at herself. She nodded. "Oh, that's good."

Backing away from Clara and her bed, the Time Lord looked his friend over once again. He wasn't sure if his next suggestion would go down overly well, since they'd both worked out the other had lied in their dream state. "The TARDIS is parked outside."

The young woman put the mirror down and really looked at the Doctor. "Yeah, so?"

"So… all of time and all of space is sitting out there," the Doctor continued. "In that big blue box. Please, just don't even argue." He approached her bead again and held out his hand to her.

Clara smiled and took a hold of the Doctor's outstretched hand. "Merry Christmas, Doctor."

"Merry Christmas, Clara Osward." The Doctor smiled and indicated to the door of her bedroom. Clara's grin widened and she raced to the door and down the stairs. The Time Lord was close behind her and it didn't take them long to get to the TARDIS.

Once Clara had gotten to the blue box and was about to enter, she asked, "What's got you all excited then?"

"Second chances. I don't get many of those, and I don't really know who to thank," he returned, entering the TARDIS behind his friend. "Because I really need your help."

Clara had stopped just inside the door and she frowned as the Doctor passed her on his way to the controls. She fully expected to find Rose sitting in the jump seat or on the balcony overlooking the main control room. "Where's Rose?"

"She's safe, for the moment."

"But where is she?"

The Doctor sighed and leaned against the control panel. He thought over all the possibilities of what he could really say to answer that question – should he lie, again, or tell Clara the truth? It had been so long since he had actually seen his impossible girl and she hadn't quite forgiven him for lying to her about finding Gallifrey. "Rose was kidnapped from a planet we visited four months ago: four months ago for me. When I say that she's safe, it means that she's currently on my TARDIS." Clara opened her mouth to ask what that meant, and exactly where Rose was hiding, when the Doctor clarified: "With a younger me." He looked down at his hands and then looked over to where Clara was standing. "Eventually we will find Rose again. Very soon in fact. But that is not what I need your help with."

The young woman moved to the console and stood beside the Doctor. "Then what would you like my help with?"

"We are going to find my daughter and I need you to act like a buyer." He spun away from her and sent the TARDIS through the vortex to Pluto.

Clara turned and looked at the Doctor as if he had grown another head. "Wait, what?"

He stopped and looked at her in the eye. "My daughter is being sold as a telepathic slave. We – and when I say 'we', I mean you – are going to intervene and buy her before someone else has the chance."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because this is going to be very dangerous for me and I'm not supposed to cross my own timeline."

She frowned. "You did it before."

"And you saw what I was like with other versions of myself. I will be there already with this face. That's why I need you. I can't be seen."

Clara pursed her lips and thought over the Doctor's request. "What about all the other slaves? Why are we just rescuing your daughter?"

"Because I've already freed all the other slaves. Or I will. By the time I got there the first time, Jenny had already been sold. And you were the buyer," the Doctor pointed out. "Missy thought she'd got one over me, but she hadn't."

"Hang on. Your daughter's name is Jenny? Do you mean the Jenny we met in Victorian London?"

The Doctor frowned slightly as he thought about the woman servant of Madam Vastra. "No." He pulled out a credit stick and handed it to Clara. "This will hold enough money for you to purchase Jenny. Once you've got her and exchanged the money, take Jenny back to the TARDIS. I'll handle the rest."

Clara nodded and asked, "Just one thing. What does Jenny look like?"

"Blond, blue eyed. Like my fifth self."

Clara spotted a picture coming out from the TARDIS console. Taking hold of it, she held it up for the Doctor to see. "Like this?" she asked.

The Doctor took the photo off Clara before he handed it back to her. "Yes."

"So I just go out there, purchase Jenny and then come back to the TARDIS?"

"Yes."

 **NTLNTL**

No one seemed to notice the TARDIS materialize in the storage closet with them. Sarah Jane, Harry and Susan were solely focused on the unearthly woman in the Doctor's arms. Even the two men who had stumbled on their hiding place were pale at the sight of Rose and her glowing eyes. The Doctor was the only one whose attention was not on Rose.

He was more focused on the situation at hand – and the imminent capture of not only his granddaughter and his wife but also him and his two current companions. That was until Rose shifted and partially sat up in his lap. He couldn't see her face or what she was doing. Yet by the looks of shock on their companions and the horror on the two guards' faces, he knew that he wouldn't really want to see what Rose was doing.

"Bad Wolf!" exclaimed the guard on the left.

Rose raised her hand and waved it over the direction where the two guards were. The Doctor felt a ripple of power coming off the woman he held as the two guards disappeared. And then, there was a second wave of power that the Doctor could not explain. Rose collapsed back onto the Doctor's chest.

"They're gone!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "Somehow, Melody made them go."

Susan ran a hand over her face as she mulled over the words the female guard had exclaimed. "Oh my goodness." Susan's eyes focused on the woman tucked safely away in her grandfather's arms. Pointing at Rose, she repeated what the guards had said. "She's the Bad Wolf."

"What's the Bad Wolf?" Harry asked.

"Surely you've heard of the Bad Wolf on Earth?" Susan asked. "Not much is spoken of her, yet she's always associated with the protection of family."

The Doctor looked over his friends and granddaughter before shooting them all a warning look.  
"We can discuss this in the TARDIS. I would feel much better once I look over Melody. Susan, do you still have your key?"

"Yes, Grandfather." She stood up and smiled slightly as the Doctor pointed toward the TARDIS. Sarah Jane and Harry both looked in the direction that the Doctor had pointed and their jaws dropped. Neither of them could explain why the TARDIS had shown up in the room with them. The Doctor couldn't really explain it either except perhaps all the explanation he needed was with the woman in his arms.

It didn't take him long to head into the TARDIS after his companions. Without really acknowledging them, he made his way to the medical bay and lay Rose down on the closest bed. Once he got her comfortable and left the medical bay, the Doctor found his arms oddly empty. He made it back to the console room and set a course for UNIT headquarters.

"So, how can Susan be your granddaughter, Doctor?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Excuse me?" Susan returned. "We don't go around asking how things like how children are created on Earth, or Gallifrey."

"Susan, be nice," the Doctor warned. He then turned to Sarah Jane. "Sarah, I don't talk about my family because they cast me out. They don't even acknowledge me. Except for my Susan." He looked down at controls of the TARDIS. Susan drew in a deep breath, and left the console room to go deeper into the TARDIS. The Doctor watched her go, and knew somehow he had something to do with her gloomy mood. "Now, you were asking about the Bad Wolf earlier; it's a minor legend throughout history. Not much is known about it. Other than what Susan has said."

"But why would the two guards think that Melody is this 'Bad Wolf?'" Harry asked.

"Because that is what she is. Or, at least, an embodiment of 'Bad Wolf'. A wolf only attacks when threatened, cornered or if their cubs are in danger. If you remember, Melody was all three of those things when she acted. She was threatened, cornered and her child was in danger."

"But, if she has this power to do whatever she did on the ship, then how come she didn't use it before?"

The Doctor looked up at both Sarah Jane and Harry. "I don't know. Before today, I didn't even know that Melody existed, or that the legends were true. All I know is that she is from my future. I don't even know how far. But the legend of the Bad Wolf only acts out of love for her family." He stopped and sighed, trying to think of all the things he had heard over the years about the Bad Wolf. "We have a saying on Gallifrey. 'Never get on the bad side of Bad Wolf or threaten those she protects: consequences will be swift and sure.'"

Sarah Jane frowned slightly before she brightened. "So it's like saying 'Don't mess with family'?"

"Exactly that."

 **NTLNTL**

Clara was stoic as the final parts of her business transaction were being processed. She was very fortunate that Jenny was the first person to be led onto the stage for sale. Why on earth did she agree to help the Doctor with buying Jenny's freedom? She hated every aspect of the slave trade and it felt to her that she was condoning what was going on.

But she couldn't back down. She'd agreed to do it, even before the Doctor had pointed her in the direction of the slavers sale spot. And it was the last opportunity that he would have to get Jenny released before anything worse could happen to her.

That still didn't mean Clara liked it. She handed over the credit chip the Doctor handed to her earlier and the payment went through. Clara couldn't help the little sigh of relief when it went through. The transaction manager handed her the credit chip back and all the documents making Jenny 'legally' hers and told her where she could pick up her new 'slave'. Of course, Clara really wanted to get Jenny out of there because the Way Station on Pluto gave her the creeps.

Jenny wasn't at all what Clara expected. Clara had expected the young woman to be either chatting her ear off like the previous Doctor did or someone who tried to run. But Jenny was meekly following behind her new 'master'. Clara knew that until the two of them were safely aboard the TARDIS, she couldn't ask Jenny any of the questions she really wanted to ask.

Snapping her fingers, Clara opened the doors to the time ship and led Jenny inside. "Welcome to the TARDIS."

"The TARDIS?" Jenny asked.

"I'm a friend of the Doctor's. He sent me to 'buy' you."

"You know the Doctor?" the blond asked with a lot of trepidation.

"She does, Jenny." The Doctor had entered the TARDIS behind them. Snapping his fingers, the doors closed behind him. He looked her over and gave her a small smile.

Jenny bit her lower lip as she took in her father's new appearance. "Dad?" The Doctor swallowed and nodded. "Regeneration?"

"You've heard of that?"

"It's how I survived on Messaline **.** Ten hours after you, Donna and Martha left, I woke up. You left without me!" Jenny seemed to be offended, but the Doctor knew she wasn't. She was unsure of their relationship and what was going to happen next.

"I'm sorry. I thought you had died." The Doctor looked his daughter over again and wondered how he was going to reassure her. If he was in either his tenth or eleventh body, he wouldn't hesitate to hug her. But he wasn't overly fond of physical affection in his current body. As he thought of a solution, he set the TARDIS in motion. A smile spread across his face as he thought about the various times he had run into his past selves. They had always established a telepathic link to share information. Maybe he could offer that to Jenny to reassure her.

Looking over at the two women, the Doctor frowned at them. Clara looked as if she was encouraging Jenny to come over and give him a hug. Jenny was biting her lip, trying to decide if it was a good idea or not.

"Jenny, our race is telepathic." The Doctor noticed the shudder that went down his daughter at the mention of their skills. He knew that was the main reason she was taken in the first place. "I'm not a hugger, but there is something I'd like to do: I'd like to share with you what has happened to me since I last saw you – and how proud I am of you. One way to do that is for me to create a telepathic link to you and share my memories with you. I'd also like to help you with what you've been through and encourage you to talk to me, but it is up to you."

"You… you mean I can control it?" Jenny asked.

The Doctor nodded. "At any point, you can tell me to stop. I will only do this if you want me to."

"Will it help?"

"It helped me," the Doctor confessed. Jenny nodded and stepped closer to the Doctor. He raised his hands and placed them either side of her forehead. "Anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a door. I won't look. I promise." Jenny gave her father a smile and closed her eyes. She placed her hands on his forearms. Clara watched them for a while before she retired to her room.

Eventually, Jenny pulled away from her father, feeling more confident in herself and her telepathic abilities. Her father had shown her how much he'd missed her and had truly wanted her aboard the TARDIS with him. He'd never forgotten her, even though it had been over 1000 years for him since she was created on Messaline. And she'd shown him all that she'd gone through since she'd woken up on the planet to find him gone. Granted, it hadn't been as long for her as it had been for him. She'd explored the galaxy for nearly 120 years on her own before she was captured. Then she'd spend nearly 3 years as a slave before Clara had bought her freedom.

Looking at her father once again, Jenny asked, "Who is Bad Wolf?"

"Bad Wolf is my wife," the Doctor admitted. "Why?"

"I met her once. On one of the slave ships. If it wasn't for her, I would have lost hope within the first year I was captured. But she protected me while I was aboard the same ship as her. I felt like I knew her somehow. Is she my mother?"

The Doctor smiled. "In every way that counts."

"She was pregnant."

He felt that his hearts were in his throat. His Rose was pregnant? He remembered helping rescue Rose and Susan from the slavery ring back in his fourth body, but he couldn't remember much about Rose herself. It was as if she'd been edited out of his memories, and he was just left with a vague recollection of meeting her and Susan. "What?" he asked.

 **AN:** _Please, please review! Any writer really likes to get feedback. What did you like, dislike, excreta? What do you want to see in the story in the future?_


	6. Part 5

**Part Five**

Sarah Jane and Harry were left at the UNIT headquarters with the promise that the Doctor would be back for them soon. His priority was to sort out what to do with Rose and Susan – both were from his future. Susan was simple, really. She asked to be left on Earth for her to quietly live out the remainder of her days. She'd explained that her own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren already thought she was dead, so there was little point in returning to the 22nd century.

When the Doctor asked her what she would do for a living, Susan had smiled and said that she would be happy teaching, and would find Ian and Barbara Chesterton. It was better for her to leave, after having met Rose, and had learnt to forgive her grandfather (even though the man had no idea what she was forgiving him for). Susan gave the Doctor one last hug and said that he would see her again. The last time she'd seen the Doctor, when she had lost her son and she was upset and angry at him, she still worried about what he would do in the future. But after getting to know Rose, she wasn't so worried; she knew Rose would really look after her grandfather and make sure he looked after himself.

That left the Doctor alone on his TARDIS with Rose Tyler; a woman he still couldn't quite make heads or tails of. Without anywhere in particular to go, he sent the TARDIS into the vortex and decided it was time for him to check on his patient.

He made his way to the medical bay and where Rose was resting. When he entered, she looked up from the text that she was reading. He smiled at her. "You look much better than you did a few hours ago."

"I'm better than I was. The TARDIS really helps with that." Placing the book the TARDIS had provided for her, she really looked over the Doctor she was with and took him in. "Did Susan decide to stay in the 20th century?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"She's not in here with us, and we're in the vortex. Plus, she told me where to find her once I find my way back to my proper point in your time."

The Doctor gave Rose a wide grin and sat in the chair next to her bed. "So, how did we meet?"

"Your first time meeting me, or my first time meeting you?" Rose asked with a laugh. She started coughing and knew that if she looked at the cloth in her hand, there would be blood on it. She just hoped that the Doctor wouldn't spot it. But he had.

"There's a difference?" he asked, focusing more on what she was saying, not her present health.

"Yes. And you're really going to hate me saying this because I don't know how much you'll remember but that really long story is one big spoiler." She laid a hand over her injured ribs and grimaced before she started coughing again. Catching the Doctor giving her a concerned look, she tried to give him a reassuring smile. When his concern deepened, she knew that it hadn't worked. "They broke a few ribs. I think a shard of bone nicked one of my lungs. Do you mind checking?"

"All you had to do was ask," the Doctor answered.

It took him a few hours to thoroughly check her over. He, with the TARDIS's help, set and healed what injuries he could, before he asked if he could run an ultrasound to check the progress of the baby. Rose's face lit up at the prospect.

' _Could you show my Doctor too?'_ Rose telepathically asked the TARDIS. The TARDIS hummed a positive response.

The Doctor was surprised at the response Rose got from his TARDIS – and even more questions were raised in his mind as to who this woman really was to him in the future. But he knew that neither Rose, nor his TARDIS, would be forthcoming with any answers. He found himself growing jealous of his future self; what had he done in the future to deserve a remarkable Time Lady like Rose Tyler and what had she seen in him? He knew that he wasn't like the rest of his people.

He was pulled out of his musings when Rose started to drift off. Neither of them really noticed that there was not just one tiny Time Tot forming inside Rose's womb.

Rose was almost asleep by the time the Doctor crept to the door. But somehow, as if she sensed him leaving, she woke up and looked toward his retreating form. "Please don't leave me," she whimpered. "I really don't want to be alone right now."

The Doctor gave her a reassuring smile. "I won't leave," he promised.

 **NTLNTL**

Jenny gave her father a tentative smile as she allowed him to check her over. It was nice for a change to have someone else care about her needs, she thought. Clara had mentioned that it seemed strange that the Doctor would take an interest in the young Time Lady's wellbeing, and when the young brunette confronted the Doctor about it, he shrugged it off.

"I'm a doctor," he'd said. "I want to make sure that Jenny is well cared for while she travels with us."

"Gee thanks, Dad," Jenny shot back with a smirk. She still wasn't too sure about this new gruff version of her father, but she also knew he wouldn't really leave her on her own after all that had happened in the slavery ring.

The Doctor looked over at his daughter and tried to give her a reassuring smile. The three of them were in the TARDIS infirmary. Clara had only really followed the two Time Lords there to find out what exactly was in the medical bay. She wandered over to one of the other stations that the Doctor wasn't currently using and frowned as the screen flickered on and a stream of Gallifreyan started scrolling onto the screen.

"Doctor, what's this?" Clara asked.

The Doctor looked over at his current companion and told Jenny that her examination was over. He declared that she was fine, if a bit shaken, by her ordeal with the slavers. The man made his way to Clara's side and focused on the report that the TARDIS was running through. As he read, he began murmuring to himself in Gallifreyan.

"What is it, Doctor?" Clara repeated. The Doctor ignored her as he read the final part of his Bad Wolf's health record – taken from his fourth self's TARDIS's information banks. He remained glued to the screen as one final image flickered onto it.

"Is that…?" Jenny began and she stopped as she also focused on the ultrasound.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied. "It is." And then the TARDIS started playing the recorded sound of the babies' heartbeats.

Clara frowned. "Is that two hearts beating?"

The Doctor ran a hand over his face. "Four," he responded. "Time Lords have two hearts." Hearing the sound of the new lives his wife was carrying made the Doctor more terrified than he had ever been since he first lost Rose so many years before. And it made him more desperate for his bonded – it had been four long, lonely months since he had last seen her on Olympus. He also knew that it had been far longer since _his_ Rose had seen _him._ He spun on his heel and strode quickly through the TARDIS to the control room. _'Time for us to get to our Bad Wolf,'_ he sent to his TARDIS.

 **NTLNTL**

The twelfth Doctor knew that it would very dangerous for him to park the TARDIS in his usual spot on the UNIT base – especially since he had spent so much time there during his third, fourth and fifth incantations. Yet he also knew that Rose wouldn't be up to much hiking, walking or anything since she was heavily pregnant. He was thankful that his memories had unlocked of the time he spent with Rose in his forth body (his memories had triggered when he'd started reading over Rose's medical report and heard HIS twins' hearts beating).

When he stepped out of his TARDIS, the Doctor was confronted by Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sarah Jane and Harry.

"Who are you?" the Brigadier asked.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Another one?" Harry asked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and put his hands into his pockets and leaned against the TARDIS. He wasn't even going to answer that. Both Sarah Jane and the Brigadier had dealt with at least two of his incantations, so they knew that if he was claiming to be the Doctor, they knew that he would actually be the Doctor.

"What are you doing here?" Lethbridge-Stewart asked.

"I assume Sarah and Harry have filled you in on what happened with the slavery ring?" the Doctor asked. The Brigadier nodded. "I'm here for Melody and we'll be out of here as soon as the clown comes back with her."

"Insulting yourself again, Doctor?" Clara asked as she stepped out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor couldn't really refute that. Whenever he met up with past incantations, he always seemed to find the most insulting names for each of his past faces. He remembered calling his second self 'scarecrow', his third self 'fancy pants', his war self 'granddad', his tenth self 'sandshoes' and his previous self 'chinny'. "What of it?"

"Why do you insult yourself?" Clara asked.

"Because that sounds exactly like the Doctor," the Brigadier put in. "He can't help himself. Which one are you, then?"

"One from the future," Twelve said as he heard a second TARDIS materialize beside him. He breathed a deep sigh of relief as he felt his bond with Rose flare brightly. Rushing to the younger TARDIS's doors, he opened the doors with a key he pulled from his pocket and bound quickly inside. _'Rose?'_ he called out to his wife through their bond. She didn't respond verbally, but the Doctor could follow their bond easily. Clara, Sarah Jane, Harry and the Brigadier were following behind the quick paced Doctor. He led them to the medical bay, where they found both Rose and the fourth Doctor sleeping.

The TARDIS had made the bed they occupied wider. The fourth Doctor was lying on his back with his right arm slung around Rose. Rose was also on her back, but securely nestled into the younger Doctor's side. She was using his shoulder and arm as a pillow. Her right arm was across her chest and clutching tight to the Doctor's scarf. Their left hands were resting together over Rose's belly.

The 12th Doctor took in their sleeping positions in an instance, and he couldn't push down his jealousy fast enough. How he wished it was him sharing the bed with his wife. He moved to his wife's side and sat on the edge of the bed. Placing his left hand on Rose's forehead, his right joined Rose's and his younger self's hand over their children.

"It's time to wake up now, Arkytior," he whispered.

She stirred slightly and tried to focus on the face leaning over her. "Doctor?" she whispered back.

' _I'm here, love,'_ he sent to her through their bond. Her eyes widened and she became fully awake. He gave her a smile and she reached up with her right hand to trace his jaw. "I missed you." Rose's lower lip began to tremble and her husband helped her to sit up. He scooted closer to her as he wrapped his right arm around her waist and cupped her check with his left hand. Slowly, he lowered his head so he could capture her lips with his.

She smiled – having her husband there, sliding his lips and tongue over hers felt so right. And she couldn't help let a few tears escape. _'I really missed you, my love.'_

The younger Doctor woke at the shifting of the woman who had been in his arms. He saw an older man he didn't recognize with his arms around Rose. The two of them pulled back from their intense kiss and rested their foreheads together. Sitting up, the curly haired, scarf wearing Doctor spotted the four people crowding around the doorway, watching the spectacle Rose and the 12th Doctor were making of themselves. Only one of the spectators seemed happy to see the two of them reconnecting.

' _Are you okay, love?'_ the Doctor asked through their bond.

' _I am now,'_ she returned, placing her hands over his hearts briefly before she wrapped her arms around his narrow waist and buried her face in his chest. He gently tucked her head under his chin before he looked over to his younger self.

"Thank you for looking after her for me. Now it's my job."

"How long do I have to wait?" Four asked.

"1672 years till you're me," Twelve shot back. "Anything else is spoilers."

"So he's really you then, Doctor?" the Brigadier asked of the younger Doctor. Four turned his attention to the four people at the door and gave a single nod. His attention was drawn to the young woman he didn't recognize.

"You look very familiar to me, young lady," Four said, addressing Clara.

"She's our impossible girl," Twelve replied and felt Rose calm down in his arms. And then, both Doctors felt pain radiating out through their bond with Rose. Twelve pulled away from his wife and laid both his hands over her abdomen. Panic seemed to radiate from Rose.

"How long?" the older Doctor asked.

"35 weeks," the younger Doctor returned, knowing exactly what his counterpart was asking. "With the amount of injuries she sustained, I'm surprised she's still with us."

Twelve gave Four a hard smile. "Oh, I'm not. You don't know my Bad Wolf. The word impossible doesn't apply to her."

"What's happening, Doctors?" the Brigadier asked.

"Melody is in labor," Twelve answered. "Harry Sullivan, we are going to need your help. Clara, Sarah, can you check on Jenny in my TARDIS?"

Both women nodded, realizing that the Doctor was giving them an out if they didn't want to stay for the birth. Twelve took in a deep breath – this was going to be tough. He had only found out Rose was pregnant two hours ago and there was only one possibility of who the father was. Now, once he was reunited with his wife, he was terrified. Was he really ready to be a father to a newborn again, and so soon? He thought he'd have more time to adjust to the news that Jenny had sprung on him, and that his TARDIS had confirmed.

He shoved aside his fears and doubts and focused on his panicked wife. _'Rose, I'm here. We're not going anywhere. Take a deep breath, I'll help with as much pain as I can,'_ he sent to her, along with all of his love and reassurance. She seemed to calm down a little at that, and allowed her mind to cling to his.

 **NTLNTL**

' _Bad Wolf… you can let go now,'_ the soft voice of the TARDIS echoed through Rose's fog-filled mind. The young Time Lady seemed to relax at the insistence of the time machine and her body began to glow golden with her regeneration.

Harry Sullivan, who had not lived through seeing the Doctor regenerate, had no idea what was happening. He moved closer to Rose's side but Twelve pulled him back. "No, stay back."

"What's happening?" Harry asked.

"She's regenerating," Four answered, returning into the room after delivering the younger twin to the care of Sarah Jane.

"She only held on as long as she did for the sake of the twins," Twelve added. He was afraid of what regeneration would mean for them: he didn't doubt his love for her (as he had loved her for his last four regenerations) or her love for him, and yet he wasn't sure how either of them would cope having brand new twins to deal with while learning a new personality that always came with a regeneration. Rassilon, Rose hadn't even held their twins yet. He couldn't even help his next thought either: Rose had regenerated three times already, and only once had regenerated into someone older. The other two times she'd regenerated into a child.

In an instant, it was over. Rose blinked a few times and then looked toward her husband – both versions. "What?" she asked. "Don't tell me I'm a child again? No wait!" Rose sprang from the bed and went through to the bathroom adjacent to the medical bay. Twelve followed closely behind her.

Rose noticed her husband leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom with a grin on his face. His eyes were running over her new form with appreciation, and a little sadness. She turned to face him. "I can try and change if you want me to."

"No. It's a good reminder of the time I talked to the Old Girl." He moved to her side and lifted her chin. "And you've gained a few inches. It makes it easier for me to do this." Twelve smiled and leaned down and planted a light kiss on his wife's lips.

Rose pulled away from the Doctor. "Our baby?"

"Our children are perfect, love. You're not, yet. But you will be."

"Perfect?" Rose repeated. "They?"

The Doctor allowed his smile to grow. At the start of it all, he wasn't sure how he'd handle fatherhood again, but seeing first his son, and then his daughter, brought into the world, they quickly stole their way into his hearts. "We have a son and a daughter."

 **AN:** _Please, please review! Any writer really likes to get feedback. What did you like, dislike, excreta? What do you want to see in the story in the future? Oh, and if you want to know exactly what Rose looks like - she regenerated into Idris from 'The Doctor's Wife'._


	7. Interlude

**Interlude**

Clara, Sarah Jane and Jenny all looked up from where they were fawning over the tiny twins when they heard the main doors of the TARDIS open. They were in the twelfth Doctor's TARDIS and in the nursery they'd found just past the main console room.

"Sarah?" the fourth Doctor called from the console room.

"Through here, Doctor," she called out. "We're in the nursery."

"Arkytior!" they heard the Scottish Doctor call out and then a woman none of them recognized came through the door of the nursery. Twelve followed close behind her and was just in time to catch Rose as she collapsed with regeneration sickness. He rolled his eyes slightly and moved back into the corridor where he spotted the door to the room he shared with his wife. The TARDIS was kind enough to open the door for him so he could take Rose straight in. Kicking the door shut behind him, he made his way to their bed and laid her on the covers. He found one of his wife's more modest sleepwear and proceeded to clean up and change her before tucking her in. Placing a kiss on her forehead, the Doctor left Rose to sleep.

Making his way back to the nursery, Twelve stopped at the doorway to see his closest friends and daughter bonding over the latest addition to his family. Sarah Jane was right – when he left her after the 27 planets thing, she'd told him that though he acted like the loneliest man in the universe, he had the biggest family on Earth.

Clara spotted him first and came over to him. "Who was that?"

"That was Melody." The Doctor looked down at his current companion and he saw on her face what had occurred to him when Rose first started regenerating.

"Oh."

"You're not going to run out on us again?" the Doctor asked. "Because I know what happened the last time I changed." He looked around the room and tried to hide his fear. Looking back down at his friend, he admitted, "I'm terrified."

"I'll help you, Dad," Jenny said with a smile. "We can learn together."

"How could that be Melody?" Sarah Jane asked. "And where does Jenny fit into everything?"

"I forgot how much you like to ask questions, Sarah Jane. Just accept this: I am over 2000 years old, I have a wife that I love and I can share my very long life with. We have been together for over _half_ my life. Therefore, seeing as I am married to a _Time Lady_ , it stands to reason _we_ would have a family together." The Doctor gave his old friend a smile and looked down at the bundle in her arms. Sarah offered to let him take the little girl from her, but he gave a slight shake of his head. He wasn't ready to 'bond' with his daughter just yet.

Jenny laughed. "He's got 'dad shock' again!"

"I do not!" the Doctor refuted. Sarah Jane, Clara and Jenny all looked at each other and the expression on the Doctor's face.

"Yeah, you do," Clara responded. "And I don't think you get a vote."

"What is it and you all ganging up on me? You've all developed a fault."

The three women started giggling at the expression on the Doctor's face as he looked around at them. All four of them looked toward the crib where his son was placed. The little boy had started whimpering. Jenny started moving toward the baby but Clara shook her head slightly. Nudging the Doctor, Clara pushed him toward the crib. All three women could see that the Doctor was terrified at what it would mean as soon as he embraced every aspect of fatherhood.

"Your son _needs_ you, Doctor," Clara said.

The Doctor swallowed around the lump forming in his throat and hoped that one of the others would take the responsibility from him. He looked at each woman again. Sarah Jane shrugged; she already had the Doctor's daughter in her arms. Jenny raised her hands as if she was telling him that she didn't know what to do (and she really didn't). Clara was looking down at her fingernails as if she couldn't hear his son crying.

"What do I do?" the Doctor asked Clara.

"You're his father. Pick him up."

The Doctor lifted the tiny boy into his arms and nestled the child against his chest. The baby seemed to settle a little, but was still complaining a little. Instinct took over the Doctor's actions and he began to murmur questions at his son. "What's your problem, hmmm?" Though the little guy's eyes couldn't focus, his tiny little mouth started to open and close. "Oh, is that right? We should do something about that." He spotted two baby bottles already prepared and he sent a mental 'thank you' to the TARDIS. Picking up one of them, the Doctor held the teat to his son's mouth. The baby took a few tries to start feeding, but once he started, he was happily sucking down his meal.

Sarah Jane moved to the Doctor's side. "You're a natural."

Twelve gave her a slight smile and looked down at his daughter. "Don't tell me you're going to start fussing now too." He paused for a moment, as if he was listening for a response. "Forgive me, little one, I can only feed one of you at a time and your brother did ask first… Give me a moment… Yeah, I'm getting him." Twelve looked up to see the three women looking at him with confused expressions on their faces. He rolled his eyes. "Sarah, come with me. Clara, get the bottle. We're going to go find the clown." Looking down at the boy in his arms, Twelve raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I did have an odd dress sense back then, son." The four of them walked out into the main console room and when they saw that it was empty, they made their way out to the lab.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Harry and the younger Doctor were standing around discussing the recent events and they each turned to where Twelve was exiting his TARDIS with his son in his arms.

"Clown," Twelve said, addressing Four. Four pointed to himself as he frowned at being addressed as a clown. "Yeah, you. Do me a favor. Feed the little one for me? She's asking for her daddy."

Clara hid her smile behind her hand as Four took the little girl out of Sarah Jane's arms and then took the bottle from her. She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the two Doctors feeding the newborn twins. Rose would really want a picture of that.

Twelve registered what he said and without dropping his son, he stumbled back so he could lean against the lab table. Four looked down at the daughter in his arms and then up at his future self.

"We never imagined that we'd be a daddy again, did we?" Four asked. Twelve shook his head. "What did we do to deserve that amazing woman in there?"

"I keep asking myself the same thing, and I have so much more to regret than you."

Four returned his attention to the child in his arms. "I find myself quite jealous of my future, if this is what I have to look forward to."

Twelve smiled and laid the empty bottle his son had finished down. "Yeah, I would too," he said as he lifted the boy upright to his shoulder, all the while supporting the boy's head and neck.


	8. Part 6

**Part Six**

Rose woke slowly and rolled over. She looked around the room she was in and recognized that it was the room she shared with her husband on his TARDIS. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood. "That's different," she said to herself. "I'm taller." She went through to the bathroom and really had a good look at her new appearance.

Of course, she had seen what she'd looked like before she'd gone into her regenerative slumber. She didn't really remember what she was like the last time regenerated, but the first two times she knew it had taken her a while to settle into her new personality and body. Once she'd taken in all of her new features, she decided to clean up and then sort out what she wanted to wear in this regeneration. In her previous life, she preferred jeans (either black or dark blue), a tee-shirt and a blue leather jacket. To top it all off, she wore sneakers.

Wrapping a towel around her body, Rose moved to her wardrobe and pulled out various tee-shirts with a pair of her dark blue jeans. Shaking her head, she threw the items on the bed. "Nope, not me." The next item she pulled out was her blue leather jacket and shook her head again. "Definitely not with the hair." Again, she threw the item on the bed. Something at the back of the wardrobe caught her eye. It was a modest halter neck red dress that accented the bodice and waist and then flared out so it would eventually sit just below her knees. She found some pale, skin toned leggings and some plain black flats she'd be able to run in.

Once she'd donned her new look, she looked herself over in the mirror and frowned. There was still something missing. She made her way to the wardrobe room and took a look around. It didn't actually take her too long to find a light cardigan that looked gorgeous over top of everything else she wore – and it tied everything together. It was black with gold accents. The sleeves ended at her elbows. She absolutely loved the body of it – it had a Victorian style back flare cut, while not calling attention to itself at the front. And she found that it had two inside pockets on either side. She grinned. There were so many things she could put in those pockets.

Shaking out her hair, she pulled it up into a messy bun and decided that she'd spent enough time as it was away from her husband. And she remembered what had happened just before she'd regenerated – where was her baby?

Reaching out along the bond she shared with her husband, she followed it until she found him in the main console room. She didn't spot him at first. But she could tell when he first spotted her. She turned her head in the direction she felt his lust and love coming from. Giving him a smile, she asked, "You like?"

"Oh, most definitely," he returned with a smile of his own. He came down the stairs from their library on the balcony to join her on the main console level. "Now, are you a hugger?"

Rose took her time to think about that. "Mmm, not so much this time. Unless it's with you."

He gave her a nod. "Then you wouldn't mind me doing this?" he asked as he cupped her cheek and rested his forehead on hers. She laid her hand over his wrist and gave him a bright smile. _'I love you, my Bad Wolf.'_

' _I love you, my Doctor.'_ Aloud, Rose added, "Where is our baby?"

The Doctor placed a feather light kiss on Rose's head before he pulled away and asked her to follow him. He led her into the nursery and Rose felt her jaw drop as she realized that they didn't just have one child, but two. The Doctor didn't mention that he _had_ mentioned to her just after her regeneration that they had twins, and not just one child.

"I'm terrified, Rose," the Doctor whispered. It didn't matter to him that Rose wasn't her birth name; it was the name he had known her by the longest, it was the name of the woman that first stole his hearts and he knew that he would still call her Rose no matter how many times she changed.

"I am too, Doctor. I don't know who I am. There are three things that I know for sure: I love you, you're mine, and I'm not sure what else to do."

The Doctor moved over to look down at their daughter. "Be nice, little one. That's your mother." He picked the tiny girl up and smiled. Moving back to his wife's side, he admitted, "I haven't named them yet, because I was waiting for your input love. But I thought we could give them a Gallifreyan name and an Earth name. What do you think?"

Rose nodded and smiled. "I thought of a few names while I was captured. At first, I thought about naming a girl after my mother, but then I realized, which mother? So I thought about 'Amalie.'"

The Doctor looked down at the girl in his arm. "Amalie. That's different. I like it. It fits our daughter, somehow. What about a boy's name?"

"Alistair," Rose said with finality. The Doctor looked at Rose as if she was sure and she nodded. "You always spoke of the Brigadier with such fondness. So did Sarah Jane." She looked down at the little boy. "I got to choose the Earth names. You get to give them their Gallifreyan names."

"Our daughter's name is Nestrisdathstrumulladak. Our son's name is Drayvinoniuardidorlum." The Doctor smiled at his wife and repeated: "Nestris Amalie and Drayvin Alistair Tyler-Williams."

 **NTLNTL**

"So, where are we going now?" Clara asked as the Doctor and Rose joined her and Jenny in the kitchen. Both new parents held one of their twins. Both young women looked Rose over, taking in her new appearance and outfit. Jenny smiled, having not really gotten to know any of Rose's previous faces. Clara was a little bit weary still – it had taken her a bit longer to take the Doctor's new regeneration in stride.

"Where would you like to go, Jenny?" Rose asked. "You haven't traveled with the Doctor before, so I would say it's your choice where we go first."

The blond gave her 'mother' an even wider smile. "Could we go visit Donna?"

Rose could feel her husband stiffen at the mention of Donna's name. She knew that they would both really appreciate visiting the redhead – even if she hadn't really spent a lot of time with the woman, she knew that Donna had a lot of influence over John Noble; the man she had loved and lost in the parallel world. The Doctor didn't let his inner distress reflect outwardly. He knew that Jenny meant well, and didn't know the events surrounding how Donna had left him, so she wouldn't know how much it pained him to hear his friend's name come up again. He glanced toward his wife and before he let his temper get the best of him, he strode back out of the kitchen.

Jenny's face fell. "What happened?"

Rose watched the Doctor leave two very confused young women and gave a sigh. Trust him to let her explain things to Jenny as to why they couldn't fulfil her request.

"Jenny, as much as the Doctor would love to take you to visit Donna, it's just not possible. Something happened on Earth in 2008, and Donna ended up taking the Doctor's mind into her own. A human mind cannot handle the vast amount of knowledge the Doctor has. So, to save her life, the Doctor had to remove all knowledge of him, their adventures, – everything involving us – from her mind so that she could live. If she remembers us, even just a little, her mind will burn and she will die." Rose reached out and ran a hand along Jenny's shoulder in a comforting way. "There is someone we _could_ go visit instead. Do you remember the other woman that was traveling with the Doctor at that time?"

"Martha?"

"We could go and visit her, if you wanted."

Jenny smiled. "That would be nice."

 **NTLNTL**

Mickey and Martha Smith looked up from where they were relaxing in front of the TV. They both heard the grating sound that signified the TARDIS was materializing not that far away. Neither of them had seen or heard from the Doctor for nearly five and a half years – not since New Year's 2010. And neither of them had really expected to hear anything from the Time Lord again since he swanned off after he rescued them from Jask the Sontaran.

Martha got up off the couch and moved to the window and looked out over the dark street. Across the road, underneath a streetlamp, stood the TARDIS. Out stepped a man Martha didn't recognize, carrying a newborn.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"It'll be the Doctor," Mickey returned, moving to her side. He pulled the curtain further away from the window so he could also peer out across the street. When he also spotted the older man he didn't recognize, he also frowned. Then out stepped two more women neither of them recognized (the one in the red dress carried another child) before a blond Martha vaguely recognized pulled the TARDIS door closed behind her. "Looks like we've got company. I'll go put the kettle on."

Martha nodded and went to the front door of their two bedroom apartment to let the Doctor and his entourage in. The first person to enter was Clara, and then Jenny, leaving Rose and the Doctor to bring up the rear. When Martha saw Jenny, a grin spread across the black woman's face.

"Jenny!"

"Martha!"

"Hope we're not calling too late," Clara put in. "You must be Doctor Martha Smith."

Martha nodded. "I am. Did Mr. Impressive tell you?"

"No, I did," Rose refuted. "The Doctor hates goodbyes, so rarely talks about past companions with _any_ one. Where's Micks?"

Martha looked over the second strange woman and frowned. She didn't recognize anyone other than Jenny, and was really confused about how this brunette in red knew both her and Mickey – and even had the gall to shorted Mickey's name.

"Mum and Dad'll explain inside," Jenny put in with a grin. "It's rather a long story. And it's good to see you, Martha."

The five of them moved through to the living area, where the two 'girls' took the two single chairs. Martha offered the couch to her other two guests but the Doctor waved her off. "Don't worry, Martha. Rose and I will take the dining chairs."

"Rose?" Mickey asked from the kitchen door. He took a good look around the room but didn't recognize any of the women in his living room with his wife. Rose was still standing close to her own husband. At the sound of her name issuing out of the man that had been with her for a long time at the start of her previous life, she turned to take in his face.

"Mickey," she whispered. She wasn't prepared for the onslaught of emotions that flooded over her. All the memories she shared with him in the Powel Estate; the ones of the years without her Doctor in the parallel world; Pete and Jackie's death; Tony's death; Jake; even her John's death.

The Doctor could feel Rose's emotional state and knew that she was barely holding things together. It was to no surprise to him when he felt his reactions taking over and that he knew he needed to do something about it. Catching Clara's eye, he indicated to Amalie nestled in her mother's arms. Clara gave a brief nod and took the girl out of her mother's arms. The Doctor moved to his older daughter and handed Alistair over to her. He moved back to his wife's side and pulled her into his arms.

Both Martha and Mickey were surprised when this strange man pulled the equally strange woman into his arms. "Rose, love, it's okay," the Doctor whispered and leaned his forehead against hers. _'It's okay; I'm here. Mickey's here.'_

"Okay, what's going on?" Martha asked. "Would somebody like to explain what's going on?"

The Doctor pulled away from Rose and looked at his two former companions. "Hello, Martha Jones. I'm the Doctor." He indicated to Clara and his baby girl. "This is my current companion, Clara, who's holding my daughter, Amalie. You already know my brilliant girl, Jenny, who's got my son, Alistair. And, even if you don't recognize her, you do know my wife."

"Wife?" Mickey hissed, getting up and personal in the new Doctor's face. "What happened to Rose?"

"Yes, wife!" Rose shot back, wiping her eyes. She stepped away from the Doctor's side. "I told you that in the parallel world, after one of the worst days of my life. HE left me back there with Mum and his double."

Mickey turned to face Rose in her new body. "Rose?"

"Hi Mick."

"Prove it."

She smiled sadly and thought back to the first Doctor they both knew. "When we first met the Doctor, back when he was big ears and leather;" Rose mentally chuckled as the Doctor shot her an indignant _'Oi!'_ ; "I turned him down the first time he asked. Said I had to go look for Mum _and someone_ had to look after you. After he left, I got you up on your feet and began to lead you away from the alley. You couldn't stop staring at where the TARDIS had been. Then he came back and said 'Did I also mention it travels in time?' I thanked you for nothing and then ran off with him."

"Oh my god, Rose!" Mickey said. "What happened?"

"I lost everything, got shot, tortured, regenerated," Rose sarcastically retorted.

"Love." That was all it took: that one word from the Doctor for Rose to deflate. He looked down at her and she huffed as she crossed her arms.

' _Fine,'_ she shot at him. _'If you won't let me blow off steam, you explain it to them.'_

' _You're the one with the words,'_ the Doctor returned.

' _Really? I wouldn't know. It's been what? Three days?'_

Clara shook her head at what the Doctor and Rose were doing. She knew that she was the only one who had really known what the two of them were like on the TARDIS. "Get a room!" she called at them, which made the two of them look toward her and the Doctor then pulled Rose to one side so that the other four adults could talk. "Okay, I should probably explain what's been going on lately. This Doctor's more alien than the last one. He's useless at explanations and feelings."

Mickey snorted, "Except when it comes to Rose. Glad that hasn't changed. The big git."

"Sounds like you know him well," Clara responded with a smile. "Anyway, Rose regenerated three days ago so not really sure what her new personality's like yet."

"I thought Rose was human like the rest of us," Martha put in.

"No, she's human plus TARDIS," Mickey refuted. "The Doctor we knew wouldn't have known that unless she told him."

"So this Doctor is older than the one we knew? How do we know that he's the same Doctor though? And how much older is he?"

Mickey gave his wife a smile. "Babe, you remember the pictures of my life before I ran into you? There was one of me, Rose, Jack and the Doctor with the leather and ears?" Martha nodded and Mickey continued, "That was my first Doctor. Before he changed into the man with the trench coat. Rose saw him do that. The Doctor can change his face. And tell me, how many people do you know travel in a blue Police phone box?"

Martha giggled. "Him."

"Yeah, him," Mickey agreed. "Now, what's been going on? We didn't really expect to see him on our doorstep again."

"That would be me," Jenny joined in the conversation. "I wanted to go see Donna, just because she was the one who named me, but Mum said that we couldn't. So she suggested coming to visit you. It's been hard, the last 100 years on my own, so it's nice that Mum and Dad want to do things with me and let me choose."

"Mum?" Mickey asked. "Martha explained to me how you were created, Jenny. I thought the Doctor was biologically your mother and father."

"Yes, but Mum is married to Dad. And she doesn't mind me calling her that. At least, I don't think so."

"I don't, kid," Rose said. "You're as much my kid as Amalie or Alistair." She looked toward her two friends and gave them a sad smile. Mickey looked toward his wife and raised an eyebrow. Martha nodded slightly and her husband stood up and walked over to his childhood friend. He wrapped his arms around Rose. Rose didn't return the hug. Clara snorted as Rose's arms flung out as if she wasn't sure what to do with them.

"She's so your wife, Doctor," she said.

When Mickey pulled away and shot Rose a frown. "Sorry Mick. I'm not much of a hugger this time round. Neither's Scotty over there."

"Are you poking fun of my accent now?" the Doctor asked.

Martha laughed as Mickey returned to her side on the couch. Rose returned her attention to the Doctor and shrugged. She had a smile on her face. "I don't know. Am I? It does take me a while to get the hang of a new regeneration."

The Doctor returned her smile. "I know, love. That's the same with any one just after they regenerate."

"How long has it been for you since we last saw and talked to you?" Mickey asked, directing his attention to Rose. Both he and Martha had discussed Rose's fate, along with the meta-crisis's fate – after they left the TARDIS in Cardiff. "What happened to you after the 27 planets and to Jackie, Pete, Tony and the other guy?"

Rose looked down at her feet. "A lot has happened to me since then, Micks. 150 years. The last eight months, two weeks and five days haven't been a cake walk so I try not to think about how Mum, Pete and Tony lost their lives early on. Tony was only 12."

"You're looking good for 150."

Rose snorted. "Oh, Martha. Don't get me started on age. I'm 629. I think. So hard to keep track of it all." She smiled. "Martha, mind doing me a favor? Could you help me get Amalie to the TARDIS?"

"What?" Jenny objected. "Are we leaving already?"

"Nah, we're not leaving. _I_ need to get back to the TARDIS before I walk through that door." Rose moved to Jenny's side and collected her son from her grown up daughter. She heard the materialization of someone in the kitchen. Rolling her eyes, Rose shook her head. "Martha, some help please." She shot a look at her husband. _'Be gentle, Thief. I've just lost my parents to the Angels in New York. Have fun. See you after all this has blown over.'_

The Doctor frowned at her. _'Thief?'_

As Rose and Martha made their way to the front door (and out of eyesight of anyone coming from the kitchen to the living room, Rose began to rattle off some endearments over her link with her husband. _'Darling? Honey? Muffin? Sugar? Babe? Mi vida? Querido? My thief that stole my hearts.'_

' _I am yours, Melody Rose Tyler-Williams, but I prefer it if you don't call me 'Thief','_ the Doctor shot back and sent through a wave of love. He could feel her affection rolling back toward him.

Rose paused just before she exited the house and called out to the person that had teleported into the kitchen of the Smith's house: "The audacity of you, young lady!"

River Song stepped out of the kitchen and grinned. Her eyes fell on the Doctor. "Hello Sweetie." Pointing toward the front door, she asked, "Who was that?"

"Hello, River Song," the Doctor returned. "And to answer your question, she's a suitcase full of spoilers."

"Seriously?" Mickey asked. When Clara and the Doctor both nodded, the man whistled. "No wonder she hightailed it out of here with my wife. A little warning would've been nice though."

The Doctor shook his head and focused of his wife's third self. He truly took the woman's appearance in and could tell from all the times he had seen the woman that something was wrong. Granted, River _had_ been particularly good in hiding things from him when he was younger, but after having lived 1000 years since she had first strolled into his life with 'Spoilers' back in the library, he had gotten used to all her little quirks.

"Just after New York?" the Doctor asked. River nodded once, wondering how this Doctor, whom she had only seen once (at her graduation) could read her so well. The lanky 11th Doctor she knew better couldn't read her like this man could.

"How did you know?"

"You know I can't answer that," the Doctor responded. "Was there a reason you came looking for us?"

"Yes, I think I found Gallifrey."

 _ **AN:**_ _mi vida = my life_

 _Querido = loved one_

 _ **Please review!**_


	9. AN

Sorry guys... this story is getting discontinued. I have no idea of where to head next with this story and it's been so long since I started it that I've actually lost interest in writing it. If anyone would like to continue with this story, personal message me and I'll let everyone know here that it's been taken.

all the best guys for the future.


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